Simon Says
by Liris
Summary: A new case for the SPR team leads them all into danger, but none so much as Mai. Why does she keep blacking out, and why does Naru keep glaring at her like that? Probably N/M.


Um, hi. This is my first Ghost Hunt fanfic, and I've only seen the anime, so please, if there's anything I'm getting completely wrong, let me know. I want this to be as canon as possible. I do know about some of what happens in the manga, but that's purely from reading some of the other fanfics on this site. So yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated. This is set any time that it fits.

I don't own it, as you can probably tell from the above statement.

* * *

_Something bad is going to happen._

Mai.

_I can feel it._

Mai.

_Something is coming..._

"Mai."

Mai looked up, jerked from her daydream by her boss, Naru, who was standing right in front of her. She blinked a few times, and he scowled.

"Tea, Mai. For myself and the client."

Client? She hadn't heard anyone come into the office. She leaned sideways in her seat to see though the open door to Naru's office, attempting to catch a glimpse of the person who'd managed to sneak past her. Naru clicked his fingers to regain her attention.

"Now."

She nodded and crossed to the kitchen, gathering mugs and boiling the kettle, all the while running on automatic. A client had walked straight past her and Naru had had to try more than once to rouse her; he'd actually left his office to do so. Why had she been so far away? She closed her eyes and tried to remember. A voice...

_Something bad is coming..._

Mai gasped and flinched, knocking one of the cups to the floor. Luckily, it didn't break, and she grabbed it and put it back on the counter before anyone could come to investigate the noise. Then she leaned against the counter while she waited for the kettle to finish boiling. What had that voice in her head meant? She'd had visions before, but that was always when she was asleep on a case, and it was always of the past. This was something different. If the voice had belonged to her dream-Naru, then maybe she could explain it that way, but it was definitely feminine. Actually, it reminded her a lot of her own voice...

The kettle whistled, bumping her back to reality. She poured three cups of tea and knocked on Lin's door, calling through the wood when he grunted at her from inside.

"Tea, Lin-san?"

Another grunt. She supposed that meant no. When he was thirsty, he usually came to the door to take the mug from her before disappearing back into the office he all but lived in. Hey, maybe he did live there! It wasn't like she'd ever seen the inside and it didn't matter what time she arrived or left, he was always there... Grinning at her hypothesis, Mai knocked once on Naru's office door before entering with the tray and setting it down on the corner of the desk.

"Tea, Naru."

She plonked a cup in front of her boss, making him grimace as flecks of hot liquid splashed onto the polished wooden desktop. She picked another mug and turned to give it to the client, who was reclined in the comfy chair on the other side of the desk.

"Sorry I didn't greet you, I was off in a world of my own. I made you some..."

She trailed off as the client stood up, revealing a boy about her own age and height, with the palest green eyes and the most handsome (and somewhat crooked) smile she'd ever seen. She swallowed and finished her sentence somewhat breathlessly.

"...tea."

He took a step towards her, closing the gap between them and putting his hands over hers. He was going for the tea, Mai thought, but revised her theory when he made no move to actually take the mug from her. His smile widened.

"Was it nice there?"

Mai blinked and forced herself to breathe. "Where?"

"Your world."

A shaky exhale was her only response. The boy leaned closer, so they were virtually eye to eye.

"What's your name?"

"Mai."

"My name's Simon."

He raised one hand to cup her cheek, his fingertips stroking the skin just behind her ear. It was an awfully intimate touch for someone she'd just met, and it jerked Mai out of her daze. She pushed the cup into his hand and stepped away. He nodded and sank back into his chair.

* * *

Naru watched the exchange with narrowed eyes. What did Mai think she was doing? He called her name; no response. She continued to hold hands with that boy. When Simon touched her face, Naru found himself gripping the arms of his chair so tightly, they squeaked in protest. If that boy touched her one more time, he was going to find himself out of the street with a bloody nose. Luckily for both the chair and Simon's wellbeing, Mai snapped out of it and stepped back. Naru released his grip on the chair and rearranged his facial features to ensure no hint of anything could be seen. Not that there was anything to see. He just didn't like that Simon boy manhandling his assistant, that was all.

He cleared his throat for the dual purpose of driving such unsettling thoughts from his head and to settle everyone's attention back on him.

"If you two are quite finished?"

Mai flushed red and picked the tray up. She was going to leave, but Simon reached out a hand to stop her.

"Please, Mai-san, stay."

Naru upped his glare. Mai, who was pretty used to it by now, ignored it, but Simon flinched. Naru felt a wave of satisfaction.

"Kindly stop sidetracking my assistant. She has quite a bit of work to do, and is prone enough to distraction as it is."

Mai flushed again, but this time in anger. She restrained herself from shouting in front of a client, resolving instead to ignore any more demands for tea that day. That'd show the narcissist. Nose in the air, she walked out and shut the door behind her.

Simon reclined more naturally in his seat, smiling to himself.

"Pretty little assistant you've got there."

"Is she?" Naru asked, apparently uninterested. "I hadn't noticed."

_Liar_, a voice in his head chanted. Of course he'd noticed; he was male and she was prone to wearing short skirts. However, he'd passed off his reaction (trying not to stare when she bent down to pick up the files she'd dropped all over the floor) as hormones, and had pushed it forcibly to the back of his mind. Simon, it appeared, had no such qualms.

"Do you know if she's single?"

Naru turned his glare up to 8. Two more notches and this boy would be getting the full death-glare. Not even Mai had managed to provoke that from him on the first day. Simon winced, and Naru again felt that flare of contentment. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on the desk in front of him.

"State your case, Simon-san."

Simon sat further upright and spoke in English, surprising Naru.

"I just moved to Japan from Ireland to live with my grandmother. My grandfather recently passed away, and she can't live on her own, so I came to help care for her. Problem is, since my grandfather died, things in the house have begun to move around, and Nana says that she can sometimes hear him calling to her. She's so frightened. Can you help me?"

Naru assessed the young man before him with blank eyes for several seconds, before saying 'no' and picking up the closest book on the desk. It was an English book on ESP. Ah. So that was how Simon knew he spoke English. He opened it to a random point and pretended to read for several seconds, until it became apparent that Simon wasn't going to leave. With an exaggerated sigh, Naru lowered the book and looked at the boy over the top of it.

"What is it?"

"Why won't you help me?"

"You need an exorcist, not SPR."

"We tried that. It didn't work."

"Find a better one."

With that, Naru returned to his book, leaving Simon to fume. After it became painfully obvious that holding a sit-in wasn't going to change the young manager's mind, Simon stood and bowed. There was no respect in the gesture.

"Thank you for your time, Kazuya-san" he said, reverting once again to Japanese. His eyes glittered unpleasantly as he rose from the bow, and he left without looking back. Rejected clients always looked back, as if by that one final, pathetic over-the-shoulder look they could somehow change his mind. Simon was different, and Naru didn't like it. Even if Mai hadn't reacted to the boy like that, he wouldn't have taken the case. He rethought his wording. That implied that he was turning the case down because Mai liked Simon. Which was absurd. Utterly. Naru was not, and never would be that petty. He snorted at his own argument and returned to his book, trying not to think about the look on Mai's face when she saw Simon the first time.

* * *

Simon left the office and bumped – literally – into Mai. He grabbed her by the upper arms to keep her from falling, which brought them almost nose to nose. Mai blinked a few times, trying to work out what had happened.

"Um, sorry, Simon-san. I wasn't looking..."

"It's alright. I was hoping to see you again before I left."

A strange, warm feeling started in Mai's chest. It deflated at his next words.

"Kazuya-san turned down my request. Please, can you talk to him?"

Mai squirmed a little in his grip. He wasn't hurting her, but neither was he letting go, and she was uncomfortable with it.

"Um, well, Naru can be really stubborn. If he said no, he means it. Sorry."

Simon released her right arm and swept a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"I'm sure he'd listen to you, though."

"He never does. I'm sorry, Simon-san, but..."

He once again rested his free hand on her cheek. He stared into her eyes from inches away, pleading almost.

"Please, Mai-chan? I'm sure that if you really tried, you could convince him."

His fingertips tickled her ear. She swallowed and blinked. This close, she could see that his eyes had flecks of blue in them.

"Convince him to take my case. I know you can do it."

Mai blinked again.

"I guess I could try."

Simon let her go and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you, Mai-chan."

* * *

Naru looked up, irritated at the knock on his door.

"What is it this time, Mai?"

The girl entered and perched on the edge of his desk, looking down at him for once. She didn't look happy.

"Why aren't you taking the case?"

Naru raised one eyebrow.

"Because it's not something they need us for. A simple exorcism could cure it."

He returned his attention to his book. Mai pushed it out of the way. He cast her a sharp look, wondering exactly what had gotten into her today.

"What do you think you're doing? I said no, Mai, and I meant it."

"He needs our help" she insisted. "Please, Kazuya-sama?"

His real name and an honorific? Something was up here. Naru decided that he wasn't going to be able to return to his book until he'd actually managed to finish this conversation, so he placed it squarely on the desk and looked up at Mai.

"And why is that?"

For the first time, she looked confused.

"I'm not sure exactly... I just..."

"Another one of your feelings?"

She looked at the desk and kicked one foot.

"Something like that."

Naru resisted the urge to run a hand though his hair. Mai's 'feelings' never turned out for the best.

"I'll give him 24 hours. If he hasn't convinced me by then that we need to be there, then we're leaving."

It was almost worth lugging the equipment there and back just for the smile that lit up Mai's face.

"Thank you, Naru!"

She jumped off his desk and hurried from the room. He sighed and picked up his book. Why, after the respect, did she revert back to 'Naru' once she had what she wanted?


End file.
